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Man Time: Big Smokes

February 03, 2017

It's been a long long time since the last "Man Time" post over here on on NB so it's high-time we change that. Back in September, Matthew wrote a post all about some of his latest beer sampling and it was a pretty big hit with you guys. So I managed to rope him into writing a post again and this time, he's talking all about vaping which seems to have taken the world by storm in trends over the last couple of years. So if you're interested in getting an in-depth review of some products and the chance to win some giveaway vape items, then keep on reading!

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I’ve been a smoker for 15 years and have been trying, on and off, to quit for two-thirds of that time. I’ve tried cutting down, I’ve tried cold turkey and I’ve tried nicotine gum, all to the same result. I quit for a bit, sometimes six months, but soon end up with a pocket full of rolling tobacco and papers again.

The only thing that has managed to keep me off the ciggies consistently is vaping. I bought a Kanger Subox Mini Kit in October of 2015 and fell in love with it. It’s easy to use, great for beginners and gives good flavour. Unfortunately, after a year’s worth of daily use it’s starting to look a bit battered and so when eCigarette Direct got in touch to see if I wanted to review some of the products they stock, it seemed like a great opportunity to upgrade my vape to something a little more beefy.

Aspire Cleito 120 - £26.99This tank is a serious bit of kit. Capable of running at 120 watts, if you’ve ever wanted to perfect your Smaug impression, then this is the tank for you. To put 120w into some context, I normally run my Kanger at 12w. In the pictures, I’m only running the Cleito 120 at 60w and still able to give Falkor a run for his money. I found this jump in power quite daunting to start with, and was running the tank at a much lower rating, which caused me some issues. A word of warning - If you’re using the stock coils, don’t try and use the Cleito at a low wattage – you’ll end up with an empty tank and a pocket full of juice. At low wattage, the coils aren’t capable of burning off the juice fast enough and so the chamber will flood. This happened to me a couple of times, but stopped as soon as I ramped the power up to the mid 50w range.

Unsurprisingly, as a tank that runs at a higher wattage, it is a thirsty beast and I’m finding myself having to refill it several times a day. Thankfully, Aspire have designed the Cleito 120 so you can fill it from the top, which means it’s much easier, and less messy, to fill than many other tanks I’ve seen. You simply unscrew the drip tip and top up your tank through the hole in the top hardware. I have found that the two top pieces sometimes stick together, making them difficult to unscrew from each other, and as of yet I’ve not figured out why this happens. I may be overtightening the drip tip or condensation between the two pieces may be causing a vacuum or suction effect to occur. Either way, it’s irritating, but not the end of the world. The whole tank has been made to be as simple to use and clean as possible, comprising just four main parts, making it a doddle to disassemble. These pieces fit snuggly together to form a sleek tank that has a large, 4ml capacity and yet doesn’t appear to be too much larger than many of the smaller capacity tanks on the market.

The tank comes with two coils in the box and so you’re ready to get vaping straight away. These coils come with extra-large wicking holes, which means more juice hits the coil to give you big clouds and flavour, and for a pre-built coil, they’re surprisingly good. Aspire have even gone so far as to add small fins of metal to the inside of the chimney, which minimises any spit-back that might occur. This quality does come at a cost though, and a replacement coil is going to set you back about four quid. Each coil has lasted me about a week, and so the cost isn’t going to run too high, but it’s something to keep in mind.

Innokin Coolfire IV TC100 - £59.99The Innokin Coolfire IV can kick out up to 100w of power, making it a perfect partner for the Cleito 120. It comes in a range of colours, but of course, being engaged to Amy (with her emo leanings), I just had to get this in black. Plus, in black it matches the Cleito tank, making for a much more sleek overall impression.

The box boasts a long-lasting battery and while this is a bit of a nothing statement (how long’s a piece of string?) it’s certainly covering my needs. Even using a power-hungry tank like the Cleito, a single charge overnight will last me the whole of the next day, even with moderate use. Unlike many mods which require you to purchase additional batteries the Coolfire IV has a built in 3300 mAh battery which gets rid of that additional cost and hassle. Charged through a mini-USB port, it’s a case of just plugging it into a device and waiting for it to charge. You can vape while charging, too, for extra convenience. The one obvious drawback to having a built-in battery is that if you’re out and about, and not able to charge it, you can’t just pop in a fresh battery and so I can see some people being caught short.

Another nice little feature of the Coolfire, especially for those people that use RTAs (Rebuildable Tank Atomisers) is that you can specify the type of wire you’re using, giving you more precision with your temperature control. If I’m honest, this is all a bit beyond me and when I do get an RTA for the Cleito 120, I’ll likely stick to the basic, wattage control. It’s good to know that the option’s there though, should I need it in future.

All of the temperature and power information is well laid out on a crystal-clear OLED screen, making the Coolfire simple to use. A very minor feature, but one that’s a nice, added touch is that the glow of the power button changes from green to orange and eventually red, to give you a visual guide of how much battery life you have left, without needing to check the screen.

This is a brilliant little mod that has the potential to be good for both experienced and new vapers, and at £60 isn’t going to break the bank.

Raspberry Crush//Spearmint Breeze – Halo - £3.99 each (10ml)
I’ve not tried the Halo liquids before, but as someone that’s a sucker for a good raspberry, I couldn’t resist giving the Raspberry Crush a go. I’m a big fan of sweet juices and this one certainly falls into that category. It’s got a pleasant raspberry taste, that reminds me of a raspberry coolie, but without the sharp, acid notes. So far it’s definitely the best of the raspberry juices that I’ve tried.

Spearmint Breeze is a straight forward spearmint juice that puts me in mind of the spearmint Softmints that I used to eat when I was younger. It’s quite mellow in flavour and not at all overpowering, like some mint juices can be.

Both of these juices had quite a harsh, menthol-feeling throat hit, but in their defence, I was using the .6 nicotine strength, as it was the lowest one available, when I’m used to using .3. Despite this, the flavour of both juices is vibrant and refreshing, and I’ll definitely buy them again, if I can find them with a lower nicotine content.

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Wowee, that was a long one from Matt but hopefully it gave you more than a good insight into vaping and if you're a fan of it, maybe it's given you a couple of recommendations to try out. If you're keep to try but don't want to buy though, eCigarette Direct have been kind enough to do a wee giveaway alongside this post! All you have to do to enter is listed down below and there are multiple ways to be involved. The closing date is 21st February and the winner will be announced and contacted directly. Best of luck!

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